AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Of course not. I knew Joe’s trait a little too well. He never worked to salvage a relationship.
A buzzing sound came from the phone in the middle of the desk. Sam hit a button on it.
“Mr Zimmerman is here.” A voice announced on speaker.
“Send him up.” Sam huffed a heavy breath. An attempt to regain composure. Then he turned to me. Gently took the laptop from my clutch. “I’m sorry. For getting you wound up in this. Please stay.”
An apology from Sam. I didn’t expect that. I peeked at Joe but he wasn’t even looking at me. Much less was he about to mimic the gesture.
Sam set my laptop back on the desk and even opened the lid. Then he pulled out my chair like a gentleman. I couldn’t refuse his apology or say no to his warm smile.
When the burly, grey-hair Zimmerman strolled in, Joe, Sam and I exchanged our frowns into the most welcoming grin. The poker face of any businessman.
The hour-long meeting went much better than it was anticipated. Joe went about the main details and all else concerning finance, Sam dealt with requirements and scheduling and I brainstormed some quick ideas. By the end of the meeting, the charming Zimmerman was wowed and he signed on for the full package: branding, marketing and advertising. It was a huge deal to have him officially as a client. I could tell from the steady, unrelenting handshake with each of us that we exceeded Zimmerman’s expectations too. The collaboration picked up with a successful launch after all.
* * *
“I hate packing.”
Thiswas precisely why I procrastinated when moving out. The packing was neverending. How long have we been in this closet? Three hours maybe. Or was it ten?
“What’s your status?” I hollered over my shoulder at Sam who, unlike me, hadn’t complained once. He was the one helping me out so it should be him torturing me with having to listen to his huffing and puffing. But nope, this man was a saint and oh, wait. “Fucking hell, Sam. Did you really finish packing up every rail of clothing or did you throw them out the window behind my back?”
“Nope. All in here.” Sam tapped his hand on one of the fully-loaded wardrobe boxes.
He had managed to stow everything into half a dozen of the extra-large wardrobe carton boxes and three luggages. What was even more impressive than his superb packing skills was his finesse at folding clothes. Everything was immaculately neat. How was it possible that this man never failed to impress?
Sam leaned back to the now empty shelves behind him, his arms crossed at his chest. “You know I’ve always noticed you wore so many colours, but I never imagined this. You own every shade of colour and there’s a different dress here for every day for two years.”
“What can I say. I love colours and dresses. Guilty as charged.”
“And shoes.” Sam pointed at the stack of boxes to my left, all labelled with a black sharpie as ‘shoes’ in large caps. Then his eyes shifted to the remaining pairs of shoes on the shelving. “Look at those killer heels. That’s like wearing a secret weapon. No wonder you’re so confident around the office. Which one were you wearing this morning that made you feisty enough to take on two stubborn men like your roommate and me?”
I picked up my favourite pair of black stilettos. “Good thing I was wearing my best confidence heels. You two really worked up my nerves today.”
I replaced the shoes back on the shelf.
“Woah. Why are you putting them back on the shelf? Just pack them up or you’ll never finish here.”
“I’ve got to leave out a pair for tomorrow. And for Friday.”
Sam crouched beside me, took a pair of red shoes off the shelf that were totally not office appropriate and placed them in the storage box at my feet. “You just need one pair. Not six. Nobody at the office is going to notice you’re wearing the same shoes two days in a row.”
“Alright, alright, Mr Bossman.” I moved aside the black stilettos to the empty shelf above. And my brand new sneakers just in case. Then continued packing the remaining shoes.
“Wow. How did hell do you walk in that?” Sam remarked at the pink sandals in my hands. Probably the highest heels I owned. “Let me guess. You wore those same shoes when you worked behind the bar.”
“Yep. Just the perfect match with my daisy dukes and cropped t-shirt full of beer stains. Very orthopaedic too.” I laughed with Sam as I dropped that last pair of sandals in the box.
Sam retrieved the packing tape. I held down the lids as he sealed the box closed, then I labelled the box and… “That’s a wrap.” My arms flew up in the air and I let the sharpie fly off from my hands in a small celebration.
Sam and I stood up on our feet and inspected the mess of boxes scattered around the closet. I used to think the closet was too small. But now without my clothes taking up most of the space, it seemed enormous.
“Didn’t Joe mind that you took most of the closet with your stuff?” Sam eyed the one wall left stacked with male clothing.
“As long as I left space for his suits and thousand ties, Joe didn’t mind. He even left it up to me to decorate and plan out the closet.”
That prompted Sam to inspect the room’s décor. Of course, he stopped before the massive mirror hung in the middle of the wall adorned with a painted frame of intrinsic florals. “Let me guess. Your design?”
